The Bargain
by Raziel12
Summary: Each generation, the heir of the royal family of Arendelle must journey to the summit of North Mountain to make a bargain with the demon that protects the kingdom. Now, it is Anna's turn. But what does the demon want? The answer is surprisingly simple. The demon wants Anna.
1. Chapter 1

**The Bargain**

When Anna was five years old, her father, the king, told her about the demon of North Mountain.

"Listen carefully, Anna, because this is a very important story." Her father lifted her up into his arms, so that she could look out the window toward North Mountain, its peak hidden behind thick, dark clouds. "Our kingdom was not always strong. And once, we had many enemies. A long time ago, our enemies gathered together and marched north to conquer us."

"What happened, papa?" Anna shivered and buried her face in her father's shoulder. For as long as she could remember, clouds had always hidden the top of North Mountain. But just looking at the mountain frightened her. There was something up there, something that nobody liked to talk about.

"The king during that time asked many other nations for help, but none would lend us their aid. He was so desperate to save our people that he climbed North Mountain to speak to the demon that lived there." Her father paused. "Tell me, Anna, what do you know about the demon?"

"The demon is why North Mountain is always buried in snow. It's the reason winter lasts so long sometimes." Anna hugged her father as tightly as she could. He felt as strong and solid as a mountain.

"Yes, the demon is very powerful. The king was one of our ancestors, and he went all the way to the top of the mountain. He made a bargain with the demon, and the demon promised to protect our kingdom. When the king returned, he brought an army of soldiers made of ice. These soldiers would never tire or feel afraid, and no normal weapons could hurt them. The demon also sent blizzards and avalanches to sweep away the king's enemies.

"Ever since that day, none of our enemies have ever tried to march over the mountains to attack us. But to make sure that we stay safe, each ruler has to make a bargain with the demon." Her father eased away and gazed into her eyes. "Anna, one day, you will be queen of Arendelle. That means that you will have to make a bargain with the demon too."

"Me?" Anna trembled. "But…"

"You do not have to worry about it yet." Her father smiled gently. "The demon will not expect you to go to North Mountain until I formally name you my successor, and the earliest I can do that is when you turn eighteen."

"Oh." Anna relaxed slightly. She was only five years old. It would be a long, long time before she turned eighteen.

X X X

When Anna was ten, she witnessed the power of the demon for the first time. A great fleet from the Southern Isles had laid siege to their harbour. Perhaps they believed they would be safe on the water. They were wrong.

The clouds around North Mountain darkened and stretched out to swallow the sky. Wind rattled the windows and tore through the streets. And even though it was the middle of summer, snow began to fall.

"Come with me, Anna." Her father led her to a window with a clear view of the harbour. "One day, this kingdom will be yours. You should see, with your own eyes, what the demon is capable of."

A dull roar came from the mountain, and a massive cloud of snow rumbled toward the harbour. The waters of the harbour froze solid, trapping the fleet in place as snow billowed outward in all directions. When the snow finally cleared, there was an army standing on the surface of the harbour – an army made of gleaming ice.

There must have been thousands of ice soldiers there, each one of them crafted in perfect detail. They marched in thunderous lockstep, the ice shuddering beneath their feet. The battle – if it could be called that – did not last long. The ice soldiers swarmed over the ships, and they did not spare even a single one of the Southern Isles' soldiers or ships.

When it was done, the icy soldiers vanished, swept away on a harsh wind. The snow stopped, and the harbour unfroze. The dark clouds that had spread over the entire sky receded until only the summit of North Mountain was hidden. The whole thing couldn't have taken more than an hour – an hour to kill thousands of men and lay waste a fleet.

Later, Anna would find out exactly how much the attack had cost the Southern Isles. Their king had fallen, along with a third of their nobility. The Southern Isles descended into chaos soon after, as the king's sons and the remaining nobles fought for power.

"Did you ask the demon to do that?" Anna turned to her father.

"No." Her father shook his head. "Not even I can command the demon. But the terms of the bargain are clear. The demon cannot allow harm to come to our kingdom, but it is free to choose how it aids us." He sighed heavily. "I warned the Southern Isles. I told them that their attack would fail. I wish they had listened to me."

X X X

As the years passed, Anna began to think more seriously about what she would offer the demon in exchange for its aid. Her tutors had made it very clear to her that although many of the people she knew were quite respectable, there were others that were motivated entirely by greed. Such people would do almost anything in exchange for gold, land, or power.

But she doubted the demon was interested in those. It already had more than enough power, and what use did it have for gold or land? No, she needed something else to offer the demon, something that only she could give it. She would have asked her father what he had given the demon, but he had sworn an oath to the demon not to tell anyone.

She sighed. Perhaps a ride would help her think of something. As necessary as all of her lessons were, she much preferred to be out and about. There was nothing as enjoyable as going for a good, long ride.

X X X

When Anna was fifteen, the demon saved her life.

She had gone riding through the woods, leaving her guards far behind as she urged her horse into a gallop. The wind rushed past her, and she gave a cry of delight as her horse leapt over a fallen log with ease. Her delight would not last much longer.

Winter had not been kind to the woods. Most of the game had fled, seeking warmer climes, and the wolves were hungry. As she rounded a bend in the road, a wolf leapt from the side of the road. Her horse startled, and she tumbled to the ground. Luckily, the snow was thick enough to take the edge off her fall, but when she got to her feet, she and her horse were surrounded.

"Help!" Anna shouted. "Help!" Where were her guards? They couldn't be too far away –

Slice.

Anna gasped as long, jagged fingers of ice tore out of the ground and impaled the wolves. It was as though some gigantic monster had reached up from underground with its claws. Blood dripped down the ice to turn the snow around her a sickly pink. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the ice vanished.

The wolves thumped onto the ground, and her guards found her a few moments later, staring at the cloud-strewn summit of North Mountain.

"Were you watching?" Anna whispered.

No reply came from the mountain, but a cold wind brushed past, and she could have sworn she felt fingers tracing the curve of her jaw.

X X X

When Anna was seventeen, she dreamed about the demon for the first time.

She dreamed of endless plains of ice and snow, of a wind that never ceased. She dreamed of a palace carved of ice that would stand forever. And she dreamed of blue eyes so cold they burned.

And when she woke, her window was open, and a single, perfect snowflake lay on her pillow. It was as hard as diamond, and not even the heat of the midday sun could melt it.

"Where did you get that?" her father asked.

"I had a dream," Anna said. "And when I woke, it was there."

Something close to panic flashed through her father's eyes before he put on a smile. "I see. Well, it looks very good on you." But his smile didn't reach his eyes, and he could never bear to look at the snowflake for long.

X X X

When Anna turned eighteen, her father formally named her his heir. A week later, she decided to travel to North Mountain. It was time to strike a bargain with the demon. But it would not be an easy journey. The bargain between her family and the demon forbade anyone else from climbing the mountain with her. She would have to go alone.

She loaded a sled with supplies, hitched a team of dogs to it and began the journey up the mountain. With each moment that passed, the air grew colder, and the wind grew wilder. As night fell, she could have sworn she heard wolves growling at her heels. But there was something wrong with the sounds they made, and she never saw any wolves when she turned and stared into the gathering dark. Their growls sounded more like the low rumble of a glacier being split in two.

She fell asleep surrounded by her sled dogs. But when she awakened, they were gone. There was no sign of them at all, and the blizzard that had sprung up made any search impossible. She had no choice but grab what supplies she could and weather the storm in a nearby cave, hoping that she would survive and make it up the mountain.

The next day came, and she continued the long, winding climb up the mountain, carrying the supplies she'd salvaged on her back. The wind kicked up again, and the snow fell so thickly that she could scarcely see ten feet in front of her. But still she walked, legs aching, lips chapped, and half-blind from the gale thundering past her.

How long she walked, she wasn't sure. It might have been hours. It might have been days. Lost in the snow and wind, time ceased to matter. All that mattered was putting one foot in front of the other. All that mattered was taking one deep, icy breath after another. It was impossible to tell night from day under the thick black clouds that never seemed to break. All she could do was take stock of her ever-dwindling supplies and continue up the mountain.

She was halfway up when she encountered ice wolves for the first time. They appeared out of the snow, sleek and deadly, their bodies carved of blue ice. They growled as they drew close, and it was like listening to an avalanche. Anna closed her eyes and kept walking. The demon would not let her die here. It needed her to strike a bargain.

She was right.

The wolves parted to let her pass and then melted back into the snow. Even so, she could feel their eyes upon her throughout the day and all through the night. More than once, the light of her fire played across powerful jaws of crystalline ice. But the wolves never ventured closer than the edge of the firelight, content to watch and to wait.

It was only later, when she awakened after dozing, that she realised why they'd stayed so close. A bear had wandered near her camp. It was dead, torn limb from limb. And amidst all the blood were the footprints of wolves.

Eventually, she ran out of supplies. Yet there was no turning back. She couldn't be that far from the summit now, and she would never make it back down to the bottom anyway. So she continued her ascent, half-mad from hunger and delirious from thirst. This high up the mountain, the winds were too strong to allow for a fire, and there were no caves or rocks to use for shelter. Instead, she had to huddle against the battered skeletons of trees and hope it did not grow colder. To drink, she kept snow in her mouth and waited for it to melt.

Then something changed. She woke, and for the first time in her whole life, there was no storm around the summit of North Mountain. The wind had died down to a whisper. The snow had stopped falling. The clouds were gone, and her path was clear. For high atop the mountain stood the palace of the demon, a fortress of ice that gleamed as though forged of starlight, slim yet strong, graceful yet powerful. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

Despite her thirst and her hunger, she hurried up toward the palace only to stop as a vast chasm barred her path. Yet as she was about the turn aside and look for another way up, the strangest thing happened. The air hummed, and there was a quiet murmur. Then a bridge of ice began to form over the chasm. It was roughly shaped and a dull white at first, but within moments, it shone in the sun, every bit as perfect as the palace.

Gingerly, Anna took one step onto the bridge and then another and another. It held firm and then vanished behind her once she'd crossed the chasm. There was nothing to stop her from reaching the palace now, and she continued her ascent, climbing up a long, winding ramp of glittering ice until she reached a pair of vast, heavy doors.

She tried pushing and pulling them, but they refused to budge. Then she spotted the small indentation where a keyhole would have been on a normal door. It looked – yes. She reached for her snowflake – the one she'd found after dreaming about the demon. She'd had one of the kingdom's finest jewellers make it into a pendant.

The snowflake fit perfectly. A small twist was enough to unlock the doors, and they swung open, revealing a foyer made of the same, shimmering ice as the rest of the palace – or perhaps not exactly the same. Slender veins of red, blue, white, and violet ran through the floor, walls, and ceiling, tracing out mountains, forests, and people.

Entranced, she ran from one end of the foyer to another, trying to pick out familiar scenes. At the far end of the foyer were stairs that led deeper into the castle. She climbed up, eyes drawn to the statues that lined the stairs. She knew them – she'd seen paintings of them in her family's castle. These were her ancestors, all of them, from the very first king to strike a bargain.

At the top of the stairs was a statue of her father. It captured every nuance of his appearance from the small smile that he often had to the way he favoured his right leg slightly due to an old injury. She smiled.

"I made it, papa. I –"

Her words died in her throat as she caught sight of another statue set aside in a small alcove. Like the others, it was incredibly detailed. But it was… it was a statue of her. She walked over to it, shaking her head slowly. How had the demon captured her features in such fine detail? She'd never met it before –

Or had she?

She'd always thought her dream was just a dream. But the snowflake was real, wasn't it? And her window had been open. Had the demon come to see her? A shiver ran down her spine. No, she couldn't let her fear get the better of her. She needed to stay brave.

She wandered deeper into the castle, but there didn't seem to be anyone around. At last, she reached a great ballroom. Transparent sections of ice let the morning light flood into the room, and the chandelier that hung from ceiling sparkled like the sun.

"Hello." Anna spun in a slow circle. "Is there anyone here?"

This wasn't the first time she'd called out. But it was the first time she received an answer.

"Who are you?" The voice came from the very walls of the palace. It was a woman's voice, regal and cold, yet there was something about it that sent a flush of heat through Anna's body. She'd heard that voice before, she was sure of it. Yes, she'd heard that voice on the wind, a low murmur hidden under the howl. "Why are you here?"

Anna looked around. The stories had never said anything about the demon being female, or about it having such a pretty voice. "I am Anna, the crown princess of Arendelle. I have come to strike a bargain."

Mist filled the ballroom, and she stumbled about blindly. Once again, the voice spoke. First it came from the floor beneath her and then from right behind her.

"Your father struck a bargain with me. He gave me what I wanted, and I promised to protect Arendelle and all that he loved most."

Anna went completely still as a slender arm wrapped around her waist. A feminine form pressed against her back as graceful fingers draped her snowflake pendant back around her neck.

"You forgot this."

Anna tried to turn, but the demon would not let her. Instead, the demon leaned closer, whispering into her ear. "Tell me, Anna, what can you offer me? For Arendelle, for all that you love, what can you give me?"

"What do you want?" Anna trembled. Her knees had gone weak. Everywhere the demon touched her, she burned. "Tell me, please."

Anna looked up and saw herself and the demon reflected in the pristine walls of the ballroom. The demon was taller than her with platinum blonde hair and eyes so blue they burned. Those blue eyes stared into Anna's own in the gleaming surface of the ice, and then the demon bent her head whispering into Anna's ear and trailing one hand up to caress the slender column of her throat.

"I want you."

X X X

**Author's Notes**

As always, I do not own Frozen. I'm not making any money off of this either.

Oh, Anna, always finding trouble. But seriously, I've been meaning to write something else about Frozen for a while now, so I thought I'd try my hand at an AU. And what could be more fun than having poor, innocent, little Anna strike a bargain with a demon version of Elsa? Not much, I think. Let's just say that the terms of their bargain are going to be… interesting.

I also write original fiction, mostly fantasy. You can find links to it in my profile.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Question**

Anna stumbled out of the demon's grasp. She backed away, shaking her head in denial. Surely she'd misheard. "No…"

But the demon merely smiled and ambled after her. For a split-second, Anna was struck, once again, by how very different the demon was from her expectations. She'd expected something large and rough, something brutish with wings and claws. Demons were supposed to look evil. But the demon in front of her looked like a queen. She had regal, feminine features, and she carried herself with smooth, easy grace. Even her gown was beautiful although Anna had never seen fabric like that before. No, she realised. It wasn't fabric at all. It was ice woven into a crystalline material that caught and held the light that filled the ballroom.

"Are you really going to try to run?" the demon asked. She sounded more amused than anything, and a small smile played across her lips. "You won't get far, you know."

Anna needed time to think. She had to have misheard. There was no way that the demon could want her. What would she even do with her? Yet as though the demon could read her mind, the blonde's eyes darkened, filling with the promise of something that Anna couldn't quite understand. Half of her instincts screamed at her to run, but the other half kept her rooted to the spot. Her mouth was suddenly dry, and she couldn't bring herself to look away from the demon's eyes. Heat pooled in her belly, and her breathing quickened.

"You… you're different from what I expected." It was clumsy, but it ought to buy her some time to think. Anna couldn't understand it. She should be terrified not flustered.

"Is that so?" The demon's full lips curved up at the edges. She tilted her head to one side. "Do you want to see what I really look like then?"

"I… uh…" Anna gulped. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. "Yes."

The ice in the ballroom darkened and turned opaque. Shadows filled the room as the light of the sun was blocked out. Long spines of ice rose up from the floor around the demon as a thick white mist filled the room. A low, rumbling roar came from the depths of the fog. Anna couldn't take it anymore. She turned and ran, pressing herself flat against the wall.

But when the mist cleared and the walls turned transparent again, the demon looked exactly the same as before. Well, that wasn't quite right. Her shoulders were shaking, and she was… she was laughing at her. Anna's eyes widened. Of all the nerve! Despite how utterly insane it was, she felt a flash of anger sweep through her. She'd climbed a mountain, almost starved to death, to say nothing of how she'd nearly gotten frostbite, and the demon was teasing her. She refused to stand for this!

"You're teasing me!" Anna glared and stomped forward. "Don't – don't do that! And stop laughing, right this instant!"

The demon did indeed stop laughing although a mocking smile remained upon her lips. She raised one elegant eyebrow. "For someone who was so afraid of me only a few moments ago, you seem to have regained your courage with remarkable speed."

Anna covered her mouth with her hands. Oh, what had she done? She'd just yelled at the demon. Her papa had always told her to watch what she said, and he'd always warned her about speaking before she'd thought things through. The demon probably wouldn't agree to make a bargain with her now. Arendella was going to be conquered by its enemies, and it would be all her fault, and –

"You look like you're about to pass out. You should stop panicking. I sent my wolves to save you for a reason. You have something that I want very much."

Anna slumped back. The demon waved one hand, and a chair formed behind the redhead, catching her as she sagged. It was nothing short of bizarre – she was sitting on a chair made of ice that had been summoned by a demon – but Anna was too overwhelmed to do much more than sit there and stare as the demon formed another chair opposite her and sat in it, crossing one long, toned leg over the other. Those remarkable blue eyes locked onto her once again, filled with cold fire.

"The very fact that you are still alive should assure you that I have no real desire to harm you. It's quite the opposite really. But you must have a few questions. Now would be the time to ask them."

"You…" Anna swallowed thickly. If only her parents were here to offer her their advice. "You said that you wanted me." Please, she thought. Please let her have misheard.

She hadn't.

"Yes, that is exactly what I said." The demon leaned forward. The air around them chilled, and Anna shivered, as much from the cold as from the sheer force of the demon's presence. "I want all of you Anna – I want your heart, I want your body, I even want your soul. I want everything."

"But… but why?" Anna searched her mind for something – anything at all – from her lessons that she could use, but she couldn't think of anything. Her tutors had probably not expected her to encounter a demon that wanted her for purposes that just had to be quite nefarious. If only she knew what her father had offered the demon. "Couldn't you ask for something else? I have money. I could give you land. I could… I mean… do you need sacrifices or anything? And why do you act like you know me?"

The demon stared at her for a long moment and then burst out laughing. Anna's cheeks flushed. Was this going to be a common occurrence? If so, she was already sick of it. It was also strange how the ice chair didn't feel particularly cold. If anything, it felt almost warm. She looked down at the chair, waiting for the demon to stop laughing, and blinked. The ice sparkled where it touched her. Was it reacting to her?

"Sacrifices, Anna? Do you really think I want sacrifices?" The demon chuckled and shook her head. "No, I don't want or need anything so mundane." Her voice darkened and took on a hard edge. "I am the winter, Anna. I am the ice and cold of the mountains. I am the north wind rattling your windows, and the west wind tearing down the roof. So long as winter exists, so long as this mountain stands, I will be here." Her voice softened and turned gently chiding. "I am not some pathetic little beast summoned by a foolish sorcerer. I am so much more. As for how I know you…" The demon smiled. It was, paradoxically, a most lovely smile, and Anna almost smiled back before remembering that this demon was basically laying claim to everything she was. She turned her almost-smile into a glare, which only added to the demon's mirth. "I've known you since the day you were born. All those times you played outside, Anna, and you called to the wind, did you really think no one would hear?"

Anna thought back to her childhood, to the winters she'd spent playing in the snow. Like most children, she hadn't been afraid of the snow. The demon had never harmed any children. But her royal status meant that she'd often had to play on her own, so she'd made up a few imaginary friends. In time, she'd even managed to convince herself that at least one of them was real. After all, whenever she turned her back, something was always different. Her father had told her that it was only her imagination but now…

"Were you watching me the whole time?" Anna asked softly. "Were you… were you the one who made the snow move whenever I turned my back?"

The demon bared her teeth ever so slightly. "I take care of what is mine. Besides, your family and I have long had an understanding. Your family has, for the most part, ruled wisely and well. It would be tiresome to have to strike a bargain with another family if something were to happen to you." The demon traced one finger through the air. Gossamer strands of ice formed into intricate shapes and then faded, vanishing like mist before the sun. "As for what else you could offer me, can you think of a single thing you could offer me that I could not simply take or make for myself except you?"

Anna opened her mouth. Then she closed it. Then she opened it again. Then she closed it again. There was nothing she could say. The demon had the power to take whatever she wanted. And if she could create a palace like this, then she could make anything she wanted too.

Her voice, when she finally spoke was very small. "But why me?"

The demon rose from her chair, moving until she was standing over Anna. Gently – the demon's hands were cool but not unpleasant – she tilted Anna's chin up. "Tell me, Anna, what is your most precious memory? What do you think of to keep your warm when you are cold, and scared, and hungry?"

"I…" Anna's brows furrowed. It was hard to think with the demon touching her. "When I was little, my parents took me to the harbour to see our fleet. It was summer, and my father put me up on his shoulders, and then we had lunch on one of the ships. I remember my mother telling me not to eat so quickly, but the food was so good, and I didn't want to sit at the table. I wanted to look at everything."

"How did you feel?" the demon whispered. The words tumbled over Anna like fine spring rain.

"I felt warm," Anna replied. "I felt warm and loved."

"Yes." The demon leaned closer until her lips were almost touching Anna's. Her hand shifted, stroking the nape of Anna's neck. Anna was losing herself in the demon's eyes again, in her scent that reminded her of the white flowers that sometimes grew on the upper slopes of the mountain. "I want to feel warm again, Anna. I haven't felt warm in so long. Until you came, I couldn't even remember the last time I laughed. I still can't remember the last time I wept. I don't even know if I can love." The demon ran one finger along Anna's cheek. I want to feel, Anna. I want to feel everything, and you're going to help me do that." The demon's hand drifted down until it was over Anna's heart. Anna quivered, heart racing, skin burning. "The human heart is such an interesting thing. I can feel yours beating, but it's more than that. I can feel your soul. You have such a warm soul."

Anna reached up slowly to wrap one hand around the demon's wrist. It was a surprisingly slender wrist, but she couldn't move it, no matter how hard she tried. "What if I say no? What… what if I won't give you what you want? Will you just take it?"

"There are some things even I cannot take." Anna shivered at the raw power that laced the demon's words. "I could take your body. But I could never take your heart or your soul. To take them would make them worthless. If I want to feel, Anna, I need you to give me everything of your own free will." Her voice was soft now, but there was something hungry in it, something that only drew the coil in Anna's belly tighter. "I've been ice for so long. I want to burn."

"If I say yes, what will you give me?" Anna asked. She wasn't stupid. She knew how many enemies Arendelle had. If the demon refused to protect them and their enemies found out, there would be war. And she doubted it would be a war they could win. "What… what did you give my father?"

The demon settled into the chair beside Anna. "I gave your father my promise that so long as he upheld his end of the bargain, no harm would ever come to your kingdom and its people from an outside source. Nor would any harm ever befall his family. Your parents almost died when you were small, you know, but they never told you."

"What are you talking about?" Anna shivered as the demon put one arm around her shoulders and drew her close.

The demon gestured with one hand. Trails of ice appeared in the air, tracing the shapes of a ship at sea surrounded by towering waves. "When you were only a girl, they went on a trip, didn't they? Their ship was almost wrecked off the coast nearby. I saved them because I had promised to. As for what I would give you… in exchange for what I have asked, I would make you this promise: so long as you keep your end of the bargain, no harm shall ever befall Arendelle if it is within my power to prevent it. No force from within or without shall ever harm you or those you hold dear if I can stop it. Yours will be the greatest reign in your nation's history. Ask it of me, and I will lay an empire at your feet. But more valuable than all those things, I offer you this as well: a single request. If I can grant it without breaking any of my other promises, I will."

"So… if… if I asked you to make me a giant snow castle in the middle of the harbour, you would?"

The demon shrugged. Somehow, even that gesture was still elegant. "That would be a monumental waste of the request, but I would, yes."

"And if I refused, would you really let something happen to Arendelle?" Anna asked.

"Do not think that I have any great attachment to your kingdom, Anna. I would, most likely, help your family escape. I have grown… fond of your line over the years. But I would not aid your kingdom unless your enemies were foolish enough to attack me. You see, save for a few exceptions, I care little for what happens outside my domain."

"If I agree to your terms, if I… give you myself. How would that work, exactly?" Anna tried not to blush, she really did.

The demon pulled Anna closer, and Anna shivered again. But it wasn't from the cold. No, it was from the heat that seemed to fill her whole body. "There is something about you that is different from the others. I knew it from the moment you were born. My magic – my ice – can feel the difference." She patted Anna's leg. "My terms are simple. Each month, until the day you succeed your father, you will spend two weeks here. Once you have succeeded him, a week each month should suffice. And, Anna, please remind your father that I will know if he changes his mind about when you will succeed him. Our bargain will be broken if he makes any abrupt changes."

"You want me to come here?" Anna looked around. The ballroom was beautiful, but it was ice. Everything here was. "What would I do here?"

"Nothing that you do not wish to. Remember, what I want must be given freely. I would not take it from you." The demon's lips curled. "And you have yet to see the rest of the castle and its surroundings. You may find that it is more… interesting that you believe." Her voice softened. "You will be safe here, Anna. No harm will ever come to you while you are in my care."

Anna closed her eyes. "Can I… can I have some time to think about it?"

The demon's eyes closed for a moment. "Very well. I understand how much I am asking of you." She stood and pulled Anna to her feet with a strength that defied her slender frame. "No doubt you wish to consider your decision in more comfortable surroundings. I will return you to your parents."

"What?" Anna squawked. This couldn't be happening. "You're going to go to Arendelle?"

"Not in person. But you have been away for almost a month. I imagine that they are rather worried about you." The demon led Anna toward a door on the other side of the ballroom. It opened onto a wide balcony overlooking the mountainside. The view was marvellous. One face of the mountain stretched out below them, half-hidden in fog and mist. The storm that should have surrounded the top of the mountain was still gone, and sunlight played over the glittering ice of the palace.

"A month?" Anna fiddled with her hands. "It can't have been a month!"

"Time does not pass on the mountain the same way it does elsewhere." The demon pursed her lips, deep in thought. "Tell me, Anna, do you have any preferences as to how I should send you home?"

"Uh… quickly would be good."

"I was hoping you would say something like that. Step back."

Anna didn't have to be told twice. She took a step back.

The demon's magic roared to life. The ice around them sang, trembling in anticipation. The demon gestured sharply at the misty mountainside below them. There was a flash of blue light, and Anna moved to the edge of the balcony and looked over. Lights shone in the mist, moving swiftly back and forth. She could just make out the beginning of a large skeleton wrought out of blue tendrils of magic that swiftly settled into dark blue ice. More magic swirled around the skeleton, blossoming outward into great bursts of white, adding icy flesh to the bones.

Anna gasped. It was the most incredible thing she'd ever seen. And still the storm of magic continued, growing, changing, adding icy feathers over the icy flesh and building vast wings that stirred the mist and kicked up a stiff gale. More magic gave life to gleaming claws and a graceful beak.

A massive, avian head rose up toward the balcony as titanic wings flapped twice in quick succession and dispelled the last of the mist. A giant phoenix stood on the side of the mountain, wreathed in frost. It gave a piercing cry, and Anna saw the flicker of blue light inside its empty eye sockets. The phoenix drew level with the balcony and stopped.

"This one will carry you back," the demon said. "Use your time wisely, Anna. You may speak to your parents if you wish. You may even tell them what I have asked for. But in a week, you must give me your answer."

Anna nodded slowly. "A week then." She stretched one hand out toward the phoenix and then pulled back as the beast puffed cold mist at her from its beak. "Is it alive? It seems so real."

"It is, in a manner of speaking." The demon pushed her forward. "You may touch it. It obeys my will. It will not harm you, and it will carry you back to the palace."

"What?" Anna shrieked as the phoenix lifted her up in one enormous claw. "Wait – wait – I don't even know your name!"

The demon smiled again, but there was something altogether different about this smile. It was almost warm. "My name is Elsa."

X X X

King Agdar clenched his jaw and turned to look out the window once again. It had been a month since Anna had gone to the mountain, and he feared the worst. He had always known that the bargain he had made with the demon was a cruel one, but he hadn't had a choice. Arendelle had needed the demon's aid. His wife followed his gaze and wrapped her arms around him.

"It will be all right. The demon will not harm her."

He knew that. But that wasn't what he was worried about. However, his reply died in his throat as he caught sight of a massive ice phoenix flying toward the palace. He ran outside as the guards readied their weapons.

"Do not attack!" he bellowed. "Lower your weapons!"

The guards stared at him in disbelief. They must have thought they were under attack. But the creature was clearly the demon's work. Indeed, only now that the phoenix was here had the storm around the mountaintop returned. The phoenix banked and then landed in the courtyard with a tremendous crunch. It opened one massive claw, and Anna hopped out. She looked bedraggled and more than a little queasy.

"Uh… I think we need to talk about something, papa."

X X X

**Author's Notes**

As always, I do not own Frozen. I'm not making any money off of this either.

Anna continues to dig herself deeper into trouble, but it might just be the kind of trouble she's been looking for. Anyway, I decided to bring out more of Anna's awkwardness in this chapter, especially when confronted with an unexpected situation. And what a situation! Elsa isn't exactly shy about asking for what she wants, and Anna's got some thinking ahead of her. If she agrees… well, two weeks each month is a long time for Elsa to work her (pun fully intended) magic.

I also write original fiction, mostly fantasy. You can find links to it in my profile.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.


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